Pushing for a Conclusion
by SqueezyBoyBoy
Summary: This is essentially me just writing out my thoughts before I do my homework so I can be at maximum efficiency. Will most likely be a Hachi x Yuki pairing not gonna lie. By the way, this takes place before the Valentines Day event.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: And so, Hikigaya Hachiman loses his Thursday**

 _In society people constantly nag and complain about how one can obviously do better than they are currently doing. Eventually, they realize that living up to their so-called potential is difficult beyond human comprehension. It only makes sense that different people are capable of certain tasks. The problem arises when an especially stupid individual deludes themselves to be more important than they actually are. Some believe that they are meant to change the world and in their pursuit of that life simply explains to them why it is impossible and why they should give up. This is a common trend in a typical normal fag school. Now take a look at the field outside. There are thousands of blades of grass that are often stepped on and mistreated in other forms. Not once do they complain of course one could chalk this up to them not being intelligent. Then you realize that a blade of grass is the ultimate lifeform! Think about it they veg in the sun all day until they die. They can not think about truly complex things and what if it is by choice. I know that if I could give up my intelligence for the ability to not have to live through or think about hardships I would. For all, we know grass could have reached ultimate intelligence and then given it up to live a life of peace. Think about it before we came along there was grass and they could have been ruling the world. So without there being any proof to go against this, I conclude my claim as to why grass is the best._

 **Hachiman's perspective:**

"Hikigaya"

 _As I was pulled out of my trance by an obscene amount of bloodthirst, I locked eyes with a Rabid Hiratsuka Sensei. I really wished that I had kept my ultra ball instead of catching mew, he was pretty overrated anyway._

"Yes...sensei." _I choked out._

" I know that you know what the prompt was, so why did you write this piece of crap?"

"I don't know what you mean sensei, I simply wrote about my favorite part of nature as I was asked."

 _I had to find a way to calm her down before she ended both her current career and my future career through murder. Not that I would have a caree- I mean househusband is a perfectly acceptable career...yeah._

"Hey sensei you a-" _I was interrupted by sensei before I could spout some random compliment._

"Hikigaya you know you are going to have to re-write this right?" _Sensei was now cracking her knuckles._

"Ye-yes _" I bowed so hard that you would have to be Yukinoshita's evil essence to refuse the submission._

"As long as you are aware. _" Sensei said as she lit her cigarette._

"You are free to go now."

 _After saying my apologies I grabbed a random sheet of paper and my old paper. I made my way to the clubroom so that I could rewrite my paper. However, I had no intention of rewriting it. I would simply rearrange the paragraphs to make it look different considering that Hiratsuka sensei usually took my word when I rewrote my papers and didn't bother actually checking them. I was about to enter the clubroom when I heard some chatter._

"Hikki _"_

 _Oi, that way totally my name just now wasn't it!_

"Yuigahama-san...thats... I'm sorry but...Hikigaya-kun..."

 _What they are talking about me, whatever happened to not talking about me Yuigahama? Well, I'm not one to eavesdrop so I pretended that I didn't hear anything and walked in with a…_

"Yo."

 **Yukino's Perspective:**

 _Pan-san is finally getting a new film adaptation this is definitely acceptable. I just make time in my schedule to watch this film. Actually, now that I think about it I could use this film to bring the joy of Pan-san into Yugahama-san's heart. Now we could have something to talk about that doesn't nearly bring me to a headache. Although it wouldn't be fair to not bring Hikigaya-kun to this groundbreaking event. I must discuss this with Yuigahama-san._

"Yuigahama-san."

"Yukinon."

"There is a premiering for a new Pan-san film this Thursday, would you like to accompany me?"

 _Hearing this Yuigahama-san lit up and hugged me too close for comfort._

"Of course Yukinon."

"Too close."

 _Yuigahama relented and I was free. I took a couple of breaths of air and then spoke my next question._

"Yuigahama-san. Do you think we should invite Hikigaya-kun to go with us?"

"Hikki...I don't mind taking Hikki along, but why?"

 _As she said that she seemed to take an inquisitive stance, but I didn't understand. She was always attempting to have the three of us hang out._

"I felt that we shouldn't exclude him of these gatherings after he gave that speech before Isshiki-san's request. Furthermore, seeing the glory of Pan-san could possibly enlighten him."

"Yukinon."

"Yes, Yuigahama-san."

"Do you… Hikki?"

 _Yuigahama-san's voice was so erratic that I couldn't really understand all the words that came out of her mouth._

"Yuigahama-san, I'm sorry but could you repeat that. What about Hikigaya-kun?"

"Noth-nothing Yukinon."

 _Yuigahama-san frantically waved her hands so I decided to shrug it off. Suddenly Hikigaya-kun entered with a…_

 **Hachiman's perspective:**

"Yo."

 _I walked forward and took my usual seat after seeing the startled faces of my clubmates. Yuigahama's was riddled with surprise and… guilt? While Yukinoshita's was condescending, any other day that would have internally pissed me off and had me remind myself to update my Kill List again. However, after all that had happened it was nice to see her make that face, and no I am not a masochist. It just that the way she looks down on you makes you confused as to be sad that someone is looking down on you or be grateful that Yukinoshita is looking down on you. Although, I would prefer to be looked down while on the floor so that I could take a peek at her pantie- wait better stop that before I become real scum and start drooling._

"Hikigaya-kun, why must you always use that crude greeting?"

"Mou, Hikki you want to watch a movie with us!"

 _I didn't even get to say my comeback, I swear it was cool. Yukinoshita you should be grateful that your life was just saved. Anyways, a movie? Why go watch a movie in a theatre when I could be at home in the presence of Komachi and be at MAXIMUM COMFORT!_

"Why would I have to watch a movie with you guys. I could easily watch one at home and plus since Yukinoshita agreed this probably means that it is a Pan-san movie."

 _I heard a light gasp from the opposite side of the table. I turn to see a pink tinted Yukinoshita in the midst of coming up with a retort. Now that I think of it, if Yukinoshita turned really red she could match her ribbons. Not that I'll ever be able to see that. Ahh, the pains of being socially constipated._

"Hiki deadly sin of sloth -kun I know that there is no way you have plans and besides I'm sure Komachi-san would appreciate having the house ridden of a CDC concerning lifeform."

"Oi, Komachi is happy to share a house with me. Besides, I only provide for my ange- I mean Komachi. Also if the CDC was concerned about me you two would have been quarantined long ago."

 _I smirked, Oh yeah these months of training are finally paying off. I bet you rue the day you insulted me don't you Yukinoshita. Wait wouldn't that mean she rues every day...now I'm kinda sad._

" "

 _Yukinoshita opened her mouth and I was about to cut her off, but for some reason, I didn't feel any mal-intent coming from her so I let her continue._

"You agreed that the thing you are searching for can only be achieved if people spend large amounts of time together. So does this mean you don't want that anymore? We did take your request."

"You're serious?"

"Uh...well, I.."

 _I was stunned not because she was completely right or that she wanted us to spend time with me but because she didn't disregard my wish. She really wanted to help me. I looked at her deep blue eyes in shock and she met my gaze for what seemed like an hour._

"Umm, guys I'm here too you know?"

 _We were pulled from our staring contest by Yuigahama. I let out a couple of coughs and turned my head away attempting to hide my blush._

"In that case, I will join you guys for the movie. What day is it?"

 _I looked to Yukinoshita for an answer._

"It's ah… on Thursday."

 _Once again her cheeks were red well I guess was pretty chilly this time of year. Now if she was cold why didn't she just raise the thermostat?_

"Yay, you better not ditch us Hikki."

"Indeed Hikigaya-kun, I also expect no tardiness."

 _The Ice-Queen was now back in full blast and I felt my fingers getting frostbite; it was a good thing that the tea she always poured for us was here to defend me from the natural disaster._

"Don't expect much, but I will be there."

 _The school day ended and I walked to my house with lazy thoughts of tomorrow taking over but also a strange sense of comfort. As I plopped down on my bed I fell asleep to thoughts of Totsuka making me miso soup in the morning._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Thursday's Plans Are Changed**

 **Hachiman's perspective:**

 _Tea. A three letter word that alludes to a liquid that I have become quite familiar with over this past school year. While it holds no punch to the liquid gold MAX COFFEE, it gives me a sense of belonging when I drink it. Of course, there will never be a soul that will know this. As I sit here reading in the service club room I can't help but feel content._

"Hikigaya-kun I recommend you keep your drool in your mouth and off the table."

 _I can't help but feel content… That is until I receive the harsh words of a certain doll faced club president._

"Augh, sorry." _I wipe my face not because she told me to keep control of my drool. But simply because if someone was drooling in my vicinity I'd probably be disgusted as well. Unless it was Totsuka or Komachi or their fusion Komatsuka._

"Nee, Yukinon don't be so mean to Hikki." _What is this someone defending me? I guess my life is about to end. I didn't even get to play one last tennis match with Totsuka._

"Yuigahama-san, what do you do when your dog drools on the furniture?"

 _Yuigahama closed her eyes and raised a finger in the air._

"Uhm… usually, mama tells sable 'bad dog'. But then he keeps doing it so mama sprays him and sable gets really sad." _Yuigahama looked kind of guilty towards the end of that sentence._

"Precisely, if I don't correct Hiki doggy-kun's bad habits now he will keep doing them until I have to use other...methods." _Scary the temperature dropped at least thirty degrees when she said methods. If this is what she does to a human imagine what she would do to a real dog. We must sign a petition to have all interactions with dogs forbidden for Yukinoshita. Also, she totally just called me her dog there didn't she?_

"Oi, who are you calling your dog. Not once have I been taken care of by you, if I was your dog PETA would be all over you right now."

"Ara ara, whatever do you mean. I am a gracious owner; I have provided you with shelter, beverages, and given you attention. I believe those are the core requirements of taking care of an animal."

 _If you think about it the service club is kind of a safe haven, she does give tea and bothers to talk to me. Maybe Yukinoshita is a good own- wait no she is not my owner and I am not a dog._

"As if you would know anything about taking care of a pet. Your experience with pets extends as far as looking at other owners with their pets."

 _I was pretty proud of that observation. There was no way that Yukinoshita had a pet especially when she was living alone._

"Oh, so it wants to sleep outside." _Yukinoshita glared at me. It seems that she didn't like to be reminded of not being able to have a pet. I gulped trying to come up with a retort._

"Yukinon, Hikki. Calm down I don't want a weird mood when we go to see the movie."

 _Movie? Ahh, she must have been talking about her plans with Yukinoshita. Geez, no need to rub it in Yuigahama._

"Actually Yukinon you want to get going now?"

"I believe that is a good suggestion Yuigahama-san." _Yukinoshita closed her book and began to leave with Yuigahama. Then they both stopped at the door and looked at me._

"Hikki, aren't you going to leave?" _Yuigahama had a confused look on her face._

"Nah, you guys go have fun at the movies, I'll just finish something up in here and then lock up."

 _Because of the events of yesterday, which for some reason I couldn't remember, I couldn't finish reformatting my essay that was cruelly deemed crap by Hiratsuka sensei._

"Ne Hikki. Do you have any plans today?"

 _Me. Plans. Yuigahama how are you using juxtaposition if you probably don't even know what it is. Unless she is just trying to be cruel. That's messed up. First, she brags about her plans and now she puts my ego in the dirt._

"Yuigahama, even as a joke that's mean. Of course, I don't have plans."

 _As I said this the two figures looked at me in disbelief and sighed. What now you are feeling bad? Should have thought about that before you mentally killed me. Pressing her fingers against her temple Yukinoshita spoke._

"Hikigaya-kun. You do remember what we spoke of yesterday, correct? Or is your mental capacity lower than that of a dog's?"

 _Again with the insults. I thought they were feeling remorse but I guess I'm just universally hated._

"Oi woman what's with the insults?"

"Hikki yesterday Yukinon told us about a Pan-san movie, what happened next?"

 _Yesterday? Oh, that's right we were supposed to watch a movie together. This is an all-time low being reminded of something by Yuigahama._

"A-ah that did happen."

 _Once again they both sighed. We stayed in silence until I felt the Ice-Queen's gaze bringing eternal winter to the back on my scalp. Annoyed I asked her why she was staring._

"Is there something on my face?"

"Unbelievable" _Yukinoshita muttered._

"The movie starts at six so if you want any hope of arriving there on time I advise you get going Hikigaya-kun."

 _Shit, that's twice today that my brain has been dealt a critical blow. It's a good thing I have been upgrading my vitality or else I'd be seeing a screen that read 'YOU DIED'. In an attempt to avoid further discomfort I gave them a farewell and made my way to my home._

"Later see you at the movies gotta go bye."

 _That was the secret technique that I invented for situations like this. You say three different forms of goodbye in one sentence and leave them unable to counter after the fierce combo. I made it home and started looking for clothes to change into. Immediately after starting my search I found a pile of clothes with my wallet and a note from Komachi. It read._

"Dear Onii-chan,

It is the imotou's duty to make sure their loving brother's date goes as smoothly as possible. Kyah! I bet that got a ton of points. Anyways, knowing your bad taste your clothes will most likely make Yukino-san and Yui-san's stomachs to churn so I took the liberty to make you look presentable. Be a gentleman and if I hear any complaints I'll ask otou-san to fill out a disownment form because I don't want to have a trashy nii-chan.

With love,

The Cutest Imotou in The World."

 _I don't know how to feel about this. Sure, she helped me up by saving me the time of finding my things. At the same time, she found the option of disowning me so easy. How could she do this to her loving brother? The would be too many problems if we were no longer related. As a brother, people could say that I'm a sis-con, which I hate. However, the other option is being called a pedophile so… Whatever I'll just thank her when I come back. I started to make my way to the theatre and noticed that there was quite a bit of snow. As I got off the final station I heard an announcement._

"Due to severe weather conditions, all stations have been stopped temporarily"

 _I didn't know whether to be happy that I was early to the movies or disappointed. On one hand, I made it to the movies just in time. On the other, I could have avoided having to go to the movies altogether if I had been late. Well, no use in thinking about it now. I made it to the front of the theatre and saw a certain raven-haired club president. She was wearing all black that made her appear to be ready for a funeral but also perfectly accentuated her pale skin and ocean colored eyes._

"Yo." _I decided to call over to her._

"Hello, Hikigaya-kun."

 _I noticed that Yuigahama was nowhere to be found._

"Is Yuigahama not with you?"

"No, I'm surprised that you managed to get here before she did Hiki chronic tardiness -kun"

 _I was about to retort when both of our phones went off. I looked at it and it was a message from Yuigahama._

"Sry Hikki and Yukinon but I dn't think that I will be able to mke it to the mvie because of the snow. Tell me about the mvie tmrrow kay?"

 _After seeing that text that barely managed to stay within the human language I was starting to realize why my brain had been failing lately. My face contorted due to the sheer normal fagness that the text exuded. I looked at Yukinoshita and she seemed to have a similar expression. I then looked at the time and the movie was about to start. I hope that the snow would clear up after the movie was done. Ahh, it would be such a pain if it didn't. I would have to have to wait it out with Yukinoshita and I wasn't sure my self-esteem would be able to handle that. As I was feeling sympathy for myself Yukinoshita spoke up._

"Well, then Hikigaya-kun shall we." _Yukinoshita pointed at the door to the movie._

"Sure _"_

 _Hopefully, the movie wasn't too trash._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: As Expected, The Snow Is Unrelenting**

 **Yukino's Perspective:**

 _As Hikigaya-kun and I made our way over to our seats we could see the typical pre-screening trailers. I found a seat that was acceptable and sat down with my drink and popcorn. Hikigaya-kun then sat down leaving a seat in between us. For some reason, I was hurt by this so I sent him a stare. He simply shrugged me off._

"Hikigaya-kun, may I ask why you are sitting over there. I believe that Yuigahama-san told us she soul would not be attending. Or did you forget about that?"

"I remember Yuigahama's seemingly encrypted message. I am simply being considerate. If I sat next to you, I would never hear the end of how my 'lecherous' eyes are ruining the effect of the movie for you."

 _So Hikigaya-kun does have some sort of common decency now, does he? Still, I can't help but feel uncomfortable with him sitting where he is._

"While I am impressed by your courtesy Hikigaya-kun. You need not worry for I will not be able to see your dead fish eyes in the dark."

"Nah, I'm good. Besides this seat is pretty comfy. I wouldn't want to move awa-"

 _As he was speaking he moved his hand to wave me away and knocked down his popcorn. His face turned into one of extreme sadness and I giggled._

"Hikigaya-kun I shall allow you to share some of my popcorn so stop being childish."

 _He gave me a defeated look and eventually complied. As he sat down the movie began. Around twenty minutes into the movie, I reached for some popcorn and as I was contracting my hand something warm grasped it. I looked at it and I saw Hikigaya-kun's hand grabbing mine._

"Hikigaya-kun I believe I told you that you could share my popcorn, not violate my person."

 _I was blushing it was a good thing that it was dark._

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to."

 _He quickly retracted his hand and wiped it on his lap. What's with that reaction? Any other person would relish in the fact of holding my hand not wipe it like some disease._

"As long as you understand Hiki pervert -kun."

 _The movie had ended and the credits were now rolling. It was such a fantastic film. Definitely my new favorite. I looked to my left to gauge Hikigaya-kun's reaction and he was asleep. I was appalled; how could someone sleep through a movie as good as this? I was about to unleash my wrath when I saw his face. It was so calm. Whenever he had his eyes open he either seemed bored or in pain. Looking over him now I could see the facial features he had boasted about. I studied his face when his eyes opened. They were different. It was as if he had forgotten all his pain and was at peace. However, that changed quickly. It was as if as soon as he remembered his life he was disappointed._

"Oh, the movie is over?" _Hikigaya-kun yawned and stretched his arms._

"Indeed."

 _That was all I could manage. I was still in shock after seeing his abrupt change. I could only stare. Seeing this, Hikigaya-kun waved a hand in front of me._

"Hello, Yukinoshita."

 _This time I stopped staring and shook my head._

"Did something happen? You look like you just saw Pan-san reveal that he wasn't a panda."

"Nothing."

 _Hikigaya-kun shrugged his shoulders."If you say so."_

 _We then made out way to the exit of the theatre but the doors were locked. It seemed that the snow had worsened while were relishing in the wonders of Pan-san on the big screen. I looked at Hikigaya-kun and he sighed._

"Looks like we'll have to wait it out."

"I suppose."

 _I still felt weird being around him after what I witnessed. We walked to a table and sat down. I made sure to avoid looking at his eyes. I must have been obvious about this because he gave me a weird look._

"Oi, Yukinoshita are you sure nothing happened?"

 _Should I tell him? What would he do if I did? What happened to him in the past to make him that way? I knew he didn't have the best uprising. I wanted to know more but I didn't know if I should. Gathering my courage I looked at him in the eyes and spoke._

"Hikigaya-kun… what happened to you?"

"That's pretty vague."

"I mean what was your childhood like?"

 _After saying this I saw his eye twitch._

"I would rather not talk about it... What brought this on?"

 _Should I tell him? Would he think it was stupid for me to think something like that?_

"Well… I saw your face when you were sleeping and when you first woke up your eyes looked so peaceful, but a few seconds later they turned into what they usually are."

 _For a second his eyes opened before reverting to normal._ "Why were you looking at my face?"

 _I blushed at this comment and looked down."_ I-I just wanted to wake you up."

"Well, whatever. Still, I don't like to dwell on the past and if you hear this you might not treat me the same way."

"But I want to know."

 _Leaning back in his chair he squinted his eyes at me."_ And what would I gain from this?"

"I'll do any one request from you." _I said this without thinking but then blushed after thinking about the implications while he coughed loudly._

"But of course any this illegal or morally incorrect is not possible." _I quickly corrected._

 _Hikigaya-kun thought about it for a second._

"Alright, how about an eye for an eye. I tell you about my past and you tell me about yours."

 _This seemed appealing at first but then I realized I had to speak about Hayato-kun. After thinking about it I accepted that what he was going to say was of equal or greater discomfort._

" _Deal."_

 _Hikigaya-kun nodded and then composed himself._

"In pre-kinder and kindergarten, I was your average little kid. Everyone got along with each other and I was no exception. This continued until the end of first grade. I caught a really bad case of the flue and was sick for the first three weeks of school. Other kids thought this was funny and created a game out of it. The Hikkigerms. This lasted for the rest of elementary. They added barriers just so they could say that barriers didn't work against the Hikkigerms. To make things worse. I wasn't even allowed to play the game because they didn't want to get super Hikkigerms. Everyone avoided me for the rest of elementary. I tried many times to become part of the group but everyone just ignored me or bullied me. Eventually, I gave up." _His face turned into a scowl as he spoke of the game._

 _I felt so guilty. Each time I said that I must have reminded him of that. After a while, he continued his story._

"Then came middle school. At first, I was happy and believed that I could start fresh and make friends. Then someone accidentally called me Hikigay and then decided to call me that instead. I then knew that nothing would change. The whole grade eventually picked it up and modified it. So until my second last year of middle school people just called me gay. On my last year of middle school, I met a nice girl. She didn't avoid me because it was part of her character. She didn't like me any more than she like others but after being treated the way I was treated for so long I mistook her kindness for affection. I confessed that I liked her in hopes of escaping my sad life. Now that I think about it, I really didn't even like her. I just thought that if someone liked me I should like them back because that would never happen again. After I was inevitably rejected she told everyone in the grade. I wasn't even Hikigaya anymore. To everyone, I was some freak who proposed to Orimoto and got rejected. Once again I was bullied so I decided to go to Sobu so that I would not have to be in the same school as those guys. After that, you know all about it."

 _He looked even more dead than usual. The guilt overcame me._

"I'm sorry."

 _Hearing this his eyes opened and he looked at me. I had tears around my eyes. He waved his hands at me._

"It's okay it's not like you were one of those."

"It is not okay. I've said so many things to you that must have reminded you of that."

 _My cheeks felt so warm and my vision was hazy. Oh, I was crying. I was looking at my knees sniffling and then I felt something on my head. Hikigaya-kun was patting my head._

"Idiot, I'm supposed to be crying here."

 _He called me an idiot but his eyes looked thankful. It was probably the first time he had told anyone about his past. He probably didn't expect someone to shed tears for him. I grabbed his hand and put it on my cheek as I cried. After an eternity I stopped crying and looked at him._

"Yukinoshita, can I have my hand back?"

 _Realizing that I still had his hand on my cheek I blushed and let go of his hand. He put his hand in his hand in his pocket and we stayed in silence for a while._

"The snow has calmed down and you are now able to exit safely. Thank you for your patience and have a nice day."

 _Hearing this we both stood up. We walked to the station and got on the train. I grabbed the hem of his coat for balance because I couldn't procure a seat or reach the handles. He seemed uncomfortable but didn't push me away. This made me happy. We reached my stop and I got off. I was about to say goodbye when he got off with me._

"What are you doing? This isn't your stop?"

"What does it look like, I'm walking you home. You're not in the best of conditions and the snow is pretty thick."

 _Seeing that he was concerned for me I thanked him with a smile and we walked until we reached my apartment._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Unexpectedly, They Grow Closer**

 **Hachiman's perspective:**

 _I stood at the front of Yukinoshita's apartment complex. I was still curious about what happened in her past but she didn't look like she was in any condition to talk about it so I didn't press on. I was about to say my goodbye and walk to the station when she turned around and looked at me pleadingly._

"Hikigaya-kun… Would you like to come in?"

 _What? Nani? What was up with this rom-com development? I thought the gods were senile, shouldn't this be happening with Totsuka or something? Why would Yukinoshita want me inside? Unless she was finally trying to finish me off. I was in shock and couldn't respond._

"Well, Hikigaya-kun what is your answer?" _Yukinoshita kept looking at me with those eyes of hers._

 _You know, you're asking a question, so why do I feel like there is only one option while the other is a betrayal to mankind. After she had destroyed my titan-proof mental walls I conceded._

"Okay."

 _Yukinoshita smiled at me and we made our way inside. I sat down on her couch after she offered to make tea. When she was done, she sat unexpectedly close to me on the couch. I grabbed my cup and drank to escape my thoughts._

"So, why did you invite me in?"

 _My question was met with silence. I tried again._

"Yukinoshita?"

"Hikigaya-kun, you wanted to hear about my past?"

 _So she didn't forget either? I truly was curious but again she had already cried once today and to make things worse it was for me. Something about Yukinoshita crying brought me great pain. If talking about her past would make her like that again I didn't want to hear it._

"Yukinoshita, you don't have to push yourself. You can talk about it some other time."

"But we made a deal. You know I don't lie."

"Can you promise you won't cry if you talk about it?"

 _Her face blushed upon me saying that. I guess she hadn't thought about how I had seen her break down. She cleared her throat._

"No, I can't promise that. Besides doesn't a creature such as yourself thrive of the tears of strangers."

"Don't be ridiculous. Also, we're not strangers... I'll be leaving."

 _I stood up and turned around. I took a step toward the door but then stopped as I felt a light tug on my sweater. I turned around to a Yukinoshita looking down._

"Stay."

 _That one word was all it took to make me sit down. For a while, we just sat there and I noticed that she never let go of my sweater._

"Hikigaya-kun… I can't promise that I won't break down again during our talk. But I want to share this with you."

 _I looked at her wide-eyed and she looked at me with red cheeks._

"So, for tonight only you are given permission to comfort me."

 _Permission to comfort me. Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Yukinoshita you better be careful around other guys. Were I any other guy you'd be crying in while and it wouldn't be because of your past. Then again were I any other guy I probably wouldn't be in here right now. I looked at her and gulped. Closing my eyes I nodded. She took in a deep breath and opened her mouth._

"When I was younger, Hayama-kun and I would always follow nee-san around. I looked up to her for a large part of my life. In elementary I would always stand beside Hayama-kun because I knew him prior to the start of school. Because of this, the girls were jealous of my closeness to Hayama-kun. At one point nee-san told me that she would be extremely pleased if I made some chocolate for her on Valentine's day. I saw this as an opportunity to make her happy and she suggested that I also give some to Hayama-kun. On the day she suddenly came in the middle of the day to my classroom. She told me that she couldn't wait for the chocolates and asked me to give them to her in front of the class. That in itself didn't do anything bad… that is until she made me give my chocolates to Hayama-kun in front of the class or she would lock me in the washing machine. I reluctantly gave them to him and he accepted them. The girls thought that I was trying to confess to Hayama-kun. After that, I was continuously bullied by a group of girls, sometimes mentally and sometimes physically. That wasn't the end. The boys that harbored feelings for me tried to convince me that they were better than Hayama-kun by trying to do sexual things to me."

 _Yukinoshita was shaking violently at this point with one of her hands clutched into a fist while looking at her feet. My patented HUMAN BEING INSTINCTS kicked in so I did what I could and put my hand on her shoulder. She twitched a bit when I did, but after a while, she stopped shaking and continued to speak._

"Hayama-kun just had to explain that we had no feelings for each other, but instead of doing that he skipped the rest of the week of school. When he came back, he pretended that we were in a relationship so that he wouldn't have to deal with confessions from the girls. I tried to tell the girls that he was lying, but they took it as an attempt to mock them. On the last day of elementary, they seemed to break. They took me to the roof of the elementary and threatened to shave my head in front of everyone. I called to Hayama-kun help me… he looked away. He didn't need to pretend we were in a relationship because we wouldn't be going to the same schools like them. The girls were thrilled and let me go."

 _Yukinoshita should never have to feel like this. She was trying to hold back tears and her mouth let out an occasional stifled cry. Next, I did something that surprised even me. I pulled her head to my chest and said one word. Cry. I expected her to push me away, but instead, she pressed her head into my chest and gripped my sides. She cried and cried. Hell, I wanted to cry to, but Yukinoshita didn't need someone to cry for her. She needed someone to take in her tears. Tears she was probably never allowed to release. After my shirt was turned into a marsh of tears, Yukinoshita stopped heaving. She fell asleep, I would have told her something about having the gall to use someone as her mattress, but she needed the sleep. I needed to leave. I positioned myself to stand up easier then began to raise her head off my chest. I felt her hands grip my shirt tighter. Wasn't she asleep? This didn't discourage me from leaving, so I lightly grabbed her hands to move them away from me. She began to murmur something. I asked my self again if she was asleep._

"Do-...-ave _"_

 _I couldn't understand what she had said so I leaned in closer. As I did, her hands intertwined with mine. I heard a whisper and saw her relaxed face with he or eyes closed and some pink under them from crying._

"Stay… don't lea-...gaya-kun."

 _That word again. I felt as though I was a sleeper agent and that was my trigger word. Once she said it, I lost all my will to leave._

"I won't." _I replied just in case she was awake._

 _After I said this her hands gripped mine even harder. With the warmth that was emitting from out closeness, I escaped into the land of dreams. My dreams were especially nice during the night. I wondered if the same was the same for her. Of course, I wouldn't dare to ask her that. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she told me to forget about what happened today or that she regrets sharing such events with me. Although, even if she said those things, I would never forget about this or regret it. When I felt the lights in my eyes as indicators that it was now day; I continued to feel the weight on my hands and chest. I smiled a little as this was an indication that it was not a dream and that I was not pushed away._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Where Do They Stand?**

 **Yukino's perspective:**

 _I woke up and kept my eyes closed. I remembered the events of the night before. I remembered being half asleep as Hikigaya-kun tried to leave my apartment. I was sad that he had decided to leave me alone, and yet at the moment, I felt unexplainably warm. The place that my head was resting on kept emitting a comfortable heat so I tried to snuggle against it. During my trial, I felt something shiver and then heard a gulp. Was there someone in my apartment? Concerned I looked up from my resting place and opened my eyes._

" _Y-yukinoshita."_

 _I was met by Hikigaya-kun's face only two or three centimeters from my own. We both froze in response to our sudden intimacy. He hadn't left me, this made me want to smile, but that would only make me more red than I already was. I felt my mouth part involuntarily. I had a feeling of discontent, as if what was happening was not enough. Then what was I yearning for, what did I expect? I felt our breaths colliding._

"Hikigaya-kun."

 _I found myself speaking his name. Then millimeter by millimeter I approached his face and noticed he did the same._

" _Vrtt vrtt vrtt"_

 _We both flinched away from each other after hearing the sounds of the phone. I noticed that our hands were still linked together and that at some point I managed to sit myself on his lap. We were desperately trying to avoid our gazes until he muttered something._

"Shouldn't you pick that up."

 _Taking advantage of this I dove from his lap and grasped the phone. After letting out a sigh, I looked at the contents and I appeared to have 23 missed calls and 59 missed messages from Yuigahama-san. I guess I never did text her about the movie. However, I still wondered why she would be so concerned to call that many times. That is until I looked at the time, I had missed an entire half of the school day. Yuigahama-san must have thought that I was dead. I immediately called her in hopes of clearing her worries._

"Yuigahama-san."

"Yukinon! Are you alright!? You aren't sick right!?"

 _Yuigahama-san shouted as if I wouldn't be able to hear her._

"There is no need to worry Yuigahama-san I simply overslept."

 _This resulted in a content huff from the other side._

"Good, I thought you caught ligma or something."

 _Ligma? That wasn't a disease, was it? As I contemplated I remembered hearing one of the conversations that my classmates had. Ligma was a foul joke that leads to an irritating punchline. For the sake of preserving Yuigahama-san's composure, I ignored this comment._

"Oh speaking of which Yukinon. Do you know where Hikki is? He isn't here today either, I tried asking Komachi-chan about it and told her about how I was super sad that the stations were messed up that day. Then she giggled and said she didn't know."

 _I was faced with a dilemma. I didn't want to lie to Yuigahama-san but I didn't know how she would take it if I told her that Hikigaya-kun had stayed over. Even worse if she found out that we slept in an embrace._

"Hikigaya-kun is alright Yuigahama-san."

"Oh, have you seen him Yukinon?"

"Yes, I have." _I felt guilty._

"Do you know where he is now?"

 _My chances to run away were gone. I either had to lie to her or tell her the truth._

"Yes, I do know where he is Yuigahama-san. In fact, he is in my apartment right now."

 _Upon hearing this Yuigahama-san fell silent._

"Why is H-Hiki in your apartment?" _Yuigahama-san said in a restrained voice while I took a deep breath._

"The reason that Hikigaya-kun and I are not present at school is that he stayed over yesterday and we both overslept."

"Oh, so that's how it is. I mean that's great haha...Did you and Hikki have y-you know?"

 _I could feel Yuigahama-san's pain as she said that. I knew that she had feelings for Hikigaya-kun and hearing that he stayed over at a female's home over the night could cause one to have certain thoughts._

"No Yuigahama-san we did not have whatever you are referring to. I'll have you know that Hikigaya-kun slept on the couch."

 _Hearing this Yuigahama-san let out a sigh similar to the one before but this one sounded much more relieved. It was a good thing she did not ask where I had slept._

"I see, in that case, say hi to Hikki for me Yukinon, bye bye."

 _She hung up and I placed my phone on a table near the couch. When I did this I looked around and noticed that something was missing. No. Someone was missing, and that someone was a certain boy that could easily be judged a criminal by a jury despite being innocent. As I looked for his whereabouts, I was met with a sticky note on my fridge that had a series of digits and a note that said we need to talk. This handwriting was unmistakably Hikigaya-kun's, meaning that the number must have been his. If he wanted to talk then why would he leave? Then again I doubt if we were face to face anytime today I wouldn't be able to look him in the eye; much less have a conversation with him. I made myself some breakfast or whatever the meal would be called at this time of day after taking a long shower and brushing my teeth. Finally, I input the digits into my device and called. It rang multiple times before going to the voice message. The audacity of that man, to tell me that we needed to talk only to have me speak to recording. I texted Komachi-san to take care of her brother's lack of tact; she responded with an 'ok' and an 'about time'. Seconds later my phone rang with a call from an unknown number. I picked it up and put it to my ear._

"Hello _"_

"Yo _"_

 _Ugh. That greeting even over the phone._

"What did you want to talk about?"

 _I heard a couple of uncomfortable coughs from the other end._

"Well, that is, put simply. What are we?"

 _Without a second thought or rather without allowing myself a second thought I responded._

"We are clubmates."

"Really? So what happened last night and today is everyday clubmate behavior?"

"I... can't say that it is."

 _Please stop asking. If he keeps going the club would be left with one less member, and I couldn't help but wish that if it happened it would be Yuigahama-san._

"Then let me ask you this Hikigaya-kun, are you prepared to give me an answer?"

"An answer to what?"

"I know that you aren't that dumb, so I'll take your question as a yes."

 _I was met with an uncomfortable silence._

"Do you know how Yuigahama-san feels about you?"

"What do y-"

"Answer me or I'm hanging up."

 _I was tired of this. He said he wanted to talk but he didn't want to risk anything himself. He only wanted others to do that._

"Yes, yes I do."

"And what do you know?"

"Yuigahama is infatuated with me."

 _At last, he had said it._

"So, do you like her back?"

"Yes."

 _I felt my heart break. I knew that there was the possibility that Hikigaya-kun liked Yuigahama-san. I never knew it would be this painful. I was about to hang up to avoid him hearing my cries. Why was I so upset about this? I didn't love him but how far from it did I feel._

"I like Yuigahama, but not as a lover."

 _Then in a simple eight words, my heart was repaired and my tears were returned. Along with this, I felt courage._

"Then Hikigaya-kun, how do you feel about me?"

 _I heard multiple attempts to answer the question, but they all seemed to make no sense until he paused._

"I don't think I love you, but I know that I value as more than just a friend. It's more than just that, but I can't say it just yet. Maybe someday though."

 _That was all I needed to hear. He felt the same way as me. The fact that he referenced someday meant that he didn't want to give up on us whatever us was._

"But… at the current moment, I will not accept any feelings you might have toward me. You have a problem and I don't want to become a part of it, fix it, or make it worse."

 _I was wrong he had already given up. He wasn't trying to continue hoping. He was trying to start hoping. It was my fault. I had become reliant, I had even disillusioned myself to believe that he would help with my family problems, but I didn't think he fully understood my feelings. I didn't want him to solve them for me, I wanted him to solve them alongside me._

"Hikigaya-kun, you don't understand. You're not someone I need to be helped by nor someone I have to help. When we fought after the trip and Ishikii-san's request, my life was the same as usual without our banter and I didn't feel sad or empty. To me, you are a nobody called Hikigaya-kun. I could have fought with anyone and anyone can solve my problems... And yet, when we finally spoke again and you told me your wish I wanted to help you. At first, I believed it to be my job from Hiratsuka-sensei before I knew it was a pleasure. We never have to be together again but I want us to be together. So let me assure you, in my eyes, you have never been or ever will be my hero or friend but I wouldn't mind being something else."

 _There it was. Everything. I hadn't left out anything and most of all I didn't regret it._

"Yukinoshita, as mean as that was, thank you."

 _Thank you, what did that mean? Even after all that was he going to reject me?_

"What will we tell Yuigahama?"

"That depends on your answer, but no matter what it will be the truth."

 _I heard a chuckle on the other side and couldn't help but giggle a little at how serious we both had been._

"In that case, I want to be with you. However long or short it may be."

 _With those words, I was filled with bliss and felt myself grinning savagely. After a bit more talking and an intervention by Komachi-san, we hung up. We had spoken about the best way to ease Yuigahama-san into this, but I still couldn't help but wonder if I was more excited or terrified for Monday._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Closer and Further**

 **Hachiman's perspective:**

 _I was at my usual lunch place. I hadn't seen Yukinoshita yet. Yuigahama, on the other hand, wouldn't stop pestering me about how I slept through the movie. She called me lucky but she didn't have to watch the movie. Now I'm not saying that the movie was horrible. The problem was that I thought that the movie was completely animated. There were some parts that turned into live action and the costumes were created minimal effort. To make things worse I didn't want to move after I had touched Yukinoshita's hand and I also slowed my breathing to make sure she couldn't sense me. This made me very sleepy, and why would I try to fight off such a wonderful urge. And so, I fell asleep. But enough about that, something weird happened after she bombarded me with her complaints. She said that she wanted to tell me something during lunch. So here is the problem. She didn't tell me where we were supposed to meet. Should I go to her and risk having this school lunch being my last meal, due to a certain human ice-cube and her insults. Or should I wait here and assume that she will come to me. Pros of the first one: zilch. Pros of the second one: I don't have to move. Ding, ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. After affirming my choice and convincing myself that I wasn't the least bit scum, I continued my meal. All of this while I saw the far-off figure of Totsuka playing tennis. If only he could play closer to my spot, actually why didn't I just change spots. Oh, that's right, the last time I tried getting closer the girl's tennis team threatened to convict me of stalking. Come to think of it, why was Totsuka practicing with the girl's team. Those women they were trying to steal him. I got up and went to throw my trash trying to erase my thoughts of hatred. When I came back to my spot I saw Yuigahama sitting on my spot. I sat down next to her and spoke up._

"Yo."

 _Yuigahama slightly jumped and looked at me terrified. Oi, that's kinda mean you know. It is enough that Yukinoshita insults my appearance, you don't have to go out of your way to reaffirm her point. I sighed and then Yuigahama called down._

"Oh, Hikki it's just you. I thought it was some creep."

"What did you want to talk about."

 _She had already unintentionally hurt my feelings. Keeping a conversation was going to be dangerous. Then with the most serious expression, she looked at me in the eyes and spoke up._

"Hikki, for the longest time I've-"

 _Yuigahama began some speech professing her love for me. However, I didn't budge, this was because I had anticipated this. You thought I wouldn't predict that Yuigahama would try to confess to me after hearing that I spent the night at Yukinoshita's. If you did, you got punk'd kid. In preparation, I had stayed up all night playing dating sims. This confession couldn't have an effect on my numb senses. I had also called Yukinoshita so that we could explain this together._

"- and so, what I'm trying to say is that I love you...Do you love me, Hikki."

 _Yuigahama had tears around her eyes which made it hard to respond even after all my training, but luckily I had Yukinoshita on my side._

"Yuigahama, you are and always will be important to me, but to answer your question I don't love you."

 _Yuigahama slowly began to drop tears from her eyes until she spoke up._

"Then, do you love Yukinon."

"I don't know."

 _As I said this Yukinoshita made her appearance._

"Yuigahama-san that is why Hikigaya-kun and I have to tell you that we are pursuing a relationship together."

 _Hearing this Yuigahama ran towards Yukinoshita and began to cry into her shoulder and said a stifled congratulations. After a while she said thanks._

"Why?" _I asked._

"Thanks for letting me confess. I would have regretted it if I never got to. I really am glad for you and Yukinon but I don't think that I can go to the club for a while."

"We understand Yuigahama-san, but remember, we can talk whenever you want and should you ever want to return to the club we will be more than happy to welcome you."

 _The two girls embraced and I stared at the sky happy about how things turned out. At the end of the school day, I made my way to the clubroom where I was faced by the sight of my new, partner? There was no real way to describe our current relationship, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She turned to me and showed a weary smile. I guess that Yuigahama's temporary absence was something that she still didn't take too well. Come to think of it, this setup was a lot like the early days of the club. The only difference was that I hadn't written her name on my post of people who I will never forgive in a long time. I should probably get rid of it. I said my greeting and she returned one of her own. I sat down and began to read my light novel. She stood up and poured some tea for herself and myself. I thanked her and gazed at her thinking about how great a wife she would be. At the same time, I pitied the man doomed to be forever chained to the woman. I guess I must have been staring for a long time because she began to blush. After letting out a few coughs she spoke._

"Hiki predator -kun, while Yuigahama-san might not be here do not think that I will not be able to protect myself from you lecherous being."

 _As she said this her blush never went away which was pretty cute. Because of this, I kept staring at her wondering what other expressions she could make._

"Hikigaya-kun the least you could do is pay attention."

 _Once again she tried to hide her blushing but I stayed strong. She was surprisingly vulnerable to being stared at. Could this be the new technique?_

"I heard you."

"Then why do you keep staring at me?"

 _She couldn't meet my eyes. Seeing this opportunity I decided to take advantage and began to tease her._

"Because I want to look at you."

 _Hearing this she gasped audibly and responded by looking down. After a minute she looked up and met my eyes directly. I guess she had enough teasing because her eyes were filled with fire. I felt tempted to look away but I would feel pretty stupid afterward considering that I started this. So instead we began our stare off. We blinked multiple times, but that wasn't the goal, the goal was to make the other person look away. At first, that was my goal, but after a while, I found myself simply enjoying looking at her blue eyes. Minutes passed and her faced relaxed. I felt like I could spend the entire club time doing this. Then, I began to think about how long we had been doing this. After consideration, I decided that I didn't really want to win anymore. I looked at my phone and noticed we had stayed thirty minutes past club hours._

"Uhh, Yukinoshita."

 _She looked at me with a smug look on her face. I guess she really did take that as a contest. One she won too._

"Yes."

"Club activities ended thirty minutes ago."

 _She looked at me in disbelief then looked at her phone._

"It seems that you are correct in this matter you are correct, however, I must say that the club went by rather quickly."

 _Half-jokingly I responded._

"Well, they say time flies when you're having fun."

 _I expected her to take a jab at how looking at my eyes is nothing fun compared to reading her Pan-san manuscript. Instead, I was met with a steel beam melting smile._

" _Indeed."_

 _After locking the room we made our way outside. I saw Yukinoshita began walking her way to her house. I decided to grab my bike and walk alongside her. Seeing this Yukinoshita looked at me with questioning eyes._

"Ara has the creature began its tendencies to prey on unsuspecting women."

 _Mildly peeved I responded. " I thought you would be able to tell that I am walking you home."_

 _I guess that came off more agitated than I thought because she quickly apologized._

"It was a joke more than anything don't worry about it."

 _Relieved she spoke. "_ I guess there are some things we still need to get better at noticing in each other."

"Well, we have the club to get used to that considering that Yuigahama isn't going to be attending anytime soon."

 _Wrong move. Yukinoshita looked down with a solemn expression when these words escaped my throat._

"Hikigaya-kun… are you sure about this?"

 _She wasn't being specific but I knew she was referring to Yuigahama. Sure it was a bummer that our group was fractured, but I really didn't enjoy things as they were._

"You're the one who said she wanted to be with me first."

"Yes, and I still do, but a part of me wonders if I'm being too selfish."

"Yukinoshita, you're an idiot."

 _She looked at me with hurt eyes._

"Yuigahama was bound to confess to me someday, and I was bound to reject her. The only three outcomes were what we have now, I could leave the club against my wishes to protect your friendship, or I could reject the two of you and leave our situation worse than before."

"So you just choose the best outcome huh."

 _Yukinoshita said this with an almost robotic voice._

"Nope, I chose the outcome that I wished for. If anything this might turn out to be the most painful decision of my life."

 _Confused Yukinoshita looked at me. To clear her head I said two simple words._

"Your family."

 _At this, she shuddered._

"I suppose you're right."

"Now keep in mind that I'm terrified of your sister and from the looks of it your mom is even worse. I'm not sure about the future of our relationship, but I know I was sure when chose you."

 _With that as my final words, we reached her apartment. I said goodbye and turned around and was met with a deja-vu as she grabbed my hand and gave me a squeeze. This time, however, I simply squeezed back and smiled. She told me a heartfelt thank you and I watched as she disappeared into the building._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Progress?**

 **Yukino's perspective:**

 _Hikigaya-kun and I were seated across from each other. It had been a week since we had decided to pursue a relationship. However, what did that mean? The only real difference now was that we would greet each other more frequently and occasionally talked to each other on the phone. We had decided to keep our relationship a secret because 'Your sister scares me, is she the devil, ' or so Hikigaya-kun said. Although I could see Iwhat he meant, Nee-san wasn't necessarily someone that I enjoyed to be around. I had read online that most high school relationships were quite intimate by the one week mark. I didn't want to progress as fast as they did, nor did I believe that we were capable of handling such a pace. On that note, I still wanted to progress, but I didn't want to rush him and I could feel similar thoughts coming from him. As I attempted to find a solution to our stagnant bond Hikigaya-kun took out some sheets of paper and a book then began to write on the papers. Upon closer inspection, I was able to identify the book as math workbook. Content with the thoughts that he was at least attempting to escape the bottom of the math rankings I returned to my book. After a while, I felt eyes upon me. It reminded me of the time that Hikigaya-kun stared at me endlessly. I couldn't help but be flustered at the time, so in an attempt to evade that from happening again I spoke._

"While I understand that a creature such as yourself does not have the opportunity to lay his eyes upon a beauty such as myself. I must warn you to keep your gaze on your workbook unless you wish to maintain your last place in mathematics."

 _Hearing these words Hikigaya-kun flinched and then looked away and back._

"You say I don't get to see a beautiful girl often but I see you nearly every day-

 _Hearing this I lightly blushed. I was not weak against compliments but I was more used to challenges from Hikigaya-kun so I was caught of guard._

" _\- Besides I had a reason for looking in your direction."_

"And what might that be."

"Ahh… you see there's this problem and I couldn't figure it out." _As his sentence dragged on his voice kept getting lower and lower._

 _I was still able to tell what he was trying to say. He was having problems with the work and wanted to seek my assistance._

"Ah, so Hikigaya-kun understands his lack of capability."

"Shut it. Anyways just show me how to solve it and be done with it."

 _I was disgusted with his lack of manners but I understood how difficult it must be for him to ask for help so I ignored it. I got up and took my chair to sit down while I showed him how to solve the problem. As I placed the chair I accidentally placed it closer than necessary because he occupied both corners. I wanted to move it further but I thought that he might seem insulted if I was to back away now. Also maybe this way we could make some progress. I took my seat next to him and noticed that our knees were inches away from each other._

"Aren't you a bit too close."

 _I froze I was doing this out of consideration and he dared utter such words. I gave him a cold glare._

"I see in that case I shall sit over here."

 _I went back to my usual spot with frustration. He looked at me amazed._

"That's not what I meant. You didn't have to go that back."

 _I ignored him and asked him what type of problem he was having problems with. He answered my question and I began my explanation. He listened to me until he let out a murmur and then stood up._

"It is quite rude to interrupt a person during their attempts to help," _I chided him._

 _In return, he simply grabbed his belongings and took a seat next to me. However, he sat extremely close to me. When I had sat next to him our knees were almost touching, but this was on another level; our seats were joined as one and our thighs were grazing against one another. I could see his flushed face and felt my own heat up. After a brief silence, I decided to accept this as an apology and sighed in acceptance. I continued with my teaching which at first was forced but then turned enjoyable as we traded words in light humor._

"That should cover it then." _With these words out I looked at the clock and noticed that the time to depart had arrived._

 _I began to pack my things and then placed my hand on the table in an attempt to facilitate my rise from the seat. During this procedure, Hikigaya-kun seemed to have had similar thoughts because I felt his hand placed on mine. Under normal circumstances, I could have easily slipped my hand from away, but I was mid rise and admittedly I had no complaints against holding hands with Hikigaya-kun. He then looked into my eyes with his full of determination._

"Yukino."

 _He only said one word and my legs began to weaken. I sat back down and he looked away while releasing my hand from his grasp. My head was filled with questions but there was one thing that I felt I needed to do._

"Hachiman."

 _I called his name with the same conviction he had mine. With that, we were both now looking at opposite directions and probably blushing. Then a loud sound followed up by a greeting was heard. I directed my eyes towards the instigator realizing that it was none other that Hiratsuka-sensei. Gathering my thoughts I managed to let out the signature phrase._

"Sensei, knock." _This came out with more irritation than planned._

 _In response, Sensei's shoulders twitched a bit before she let out a cough._

"Yukinoshita and Hikigaya. I came here to remind you guys that club hours are over." _She then looked at the two of us and her eyes began to squint._

"Wait did I interrupt something?"

 _Sensei scratched her head and attempted to play it off._

"No sensei you did not we were just about to make our leave."

 _Hikigaya-kun seemed to get the message and he rose from his seat and made his way to the door as quickly as I did. I gave the keys to sensei and made my way to gates. Sensei was only able to look at us in confusion and amazement._ _On my right was Hikigaya-kun and I assumed this was because he was going to walk me back. I secretly nodded my head in approval because this would give me an opportunity to ask him about his behavior. As we reached the gates I was about to ask my question._

"Sorry Yukinoshita, I can't walk you home today."

"Why not."

"Well, Komachi needed help with her math studying which is why I was trying to improve."

 _For a second I was stunned that Hikigaya-kun would go through such lengths for someone. The second after I saw the look in his eyes and remembered he was a siscon. I was slightly peeved that I would be unable to ask about his behavior, but then an idea sprouted._

"Then how about I help Komachi with her studying?"

"Nah. I'll manage besides that's pretty inconvenient for you."

"Since when did you decide what is and isn't inconvenient to me?"

 _I was not planning on losing this battle. After a minute of retorts, we both shivered from the outside cold and he conceded. This was perfect not only would I get to ask about his actions, but I would also be reunited with Kamakura. After a small debate he conceded and we packed up._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Visit**

 **Hachiman's perspective:**

 _Me and Yukinoshita arrived at my doorstep. I really did not want her to come to my house, and this was not because I was scared or anything. Actually, yeah I was terrified. I had not told Komachi of my relationship with Yukinoshita. She had noticed a few days ago that something had happened to me. Immediately she asked if I was dating Yuigahama. Because if I denied this she would immediately ask if I was dating Yukinoshita, and I was not ready for my sister's barrage of questions to come; I decided to shut her claim down completely and harshly. After this, she had been mildly peeved at me. I could already imagine the phycological and physical pain to come. On the bright side, even if Komachi decided to tell my parents, they would just scold her for being cruel. What *great* parents. Taking me out of my mental simulations, Yukinoshita poked my cheeks. Due to our proximity and our difference in height, her outstretched hand protruding from her body and her upturned eyes created a very cute sight. To this I gave a nod off approval, which led to a confused look towards me in return. Summoning the courage to fend off demons for eternity, I opened up the door._

" ..."

 _To my surprise I was not greeted by Komachi. Was this brother really that hated by his dear sister? I searched around the house with Yukinoshita in search of Komachi, and by that I mean that I searched for her on my own while Yukinoshita played with the Lord Kamakura. I finally decided to give up on my search and assumed that she was out with her friends._

"Oi, Yukinoshita it looks like Komachi is not home."

 _After I said this, she did not respond; she only kept petting Kamakura._

"Yu-ki-no-shi-ta."

 _Finally she paid need to my words, but instead of returning words she only gave a cold glare in my direction. Geez, I get it you came for the cat._

"I'm going to put on a movie you can keep playing with him if you want."

 _Yukinoshita nodded in my direction and then continued to play with Kamakura. I went to my room and began to search for a film. Over the years I have collected a multitude of exceptional films so I knew that quality was not going to be an issue in my search. The issue took place in the selection of the genre. I had seen many action films and was itching to watch a comedy but those were probably going to be a tad bit too loud for Yukinoshita's tastes. Suddenly, I reached enlightenment. I took out my PlayStation 4 and vita-chan. I waltzed into the living room and plugged in the machine of entertainment. Yukinoshita looked at me with curiosity and then went back to petting the cat. I booted up the PS4 and signed into my account._

"Yukinoshita, have you ever played a video game?"

 _She tilted her head at me and thought for a while._

"I don't believe that I have had the chance to play with such machinery."

 _She most definitely had the chance. She was simply too invested in cats._

"Well then today is your lucky day."

 _I grinned as I reached out my hand that contained the controller to her. She looked conflicted. She was probably debating whether to grab the controller or continue to enjoy God- I mean Kamakura's presence. This conflict was eventually solved when Kamakura decided to leave her alone. She grabbed the controlled that was adorned with a Persona 5 sticker. I loaded up Black Ops 3 and switched to local multiplayer with rookie bots. I did this through my psvita because I could link it to the PS4 and use it like a controller. It would be easier to use another controller. However, Komachi had broken so many after losing to me to the point where I had given up on buying more._

"How do I play?"

 _In my monologuing, I had forgotten to teach Yukinoshita how to play._

"It is simple."

 _I walked over to her and looked at the way she was holding the controller. It looked huge in her hands especially since she was only holding the bottom handles. I swiped the controller from her hands and showed her the proper way if holding it._

"You hold it like this."

"I-I see."

 _She looked embarrassed that she was holding the controller incorrectly._

"What do the buttons do."

 _It seemed she no longer wanted to be corrected. She was now asking the questions. I was kinda sad that I could no longer revel in the magnificence that was correcting Yukinoshita. I began to explain how to shoot and other mechanics. Sometimes I had to demonstrate and other times I had to motion her fingers directly. I must say it felt quite nice to put my fingers over her own and press down. Her fingers were small and thin compared to my own and her hands were smooth. After my explanation was done I started up the game. When it finally began I went on a rampage. While I wasn't the best at Fps, it was really easy to go against recruit bots. About ten minutes in the match I realized that I needs only one more kill to end the game. Since I was so far ahead I decided that I would just prone in a random room. I then began to look at Yukinoshita play. She was struggling immensely. The reason behind this was because she still hadn't memorized the controls. I had expected this from normal people but it felt strangely refreshing to see Yukinoshita have normal human troubles._

"Shouldn't you be… focused on the… game."

 _It seemed that she had caught my staring and spoke in pauses due to her concentration on the game._

"I just need one more kill to win. I stopped to look at you because I found it strange to be so much better at something that the great Yukinoshita."

"It only… makes sense that… you would be better… than me at a game… I've only played for the first… time."

 _It seemed that she was hell bent on continuing to play. While she played she would constantly look down to press the buttons. This made her reaction speed incredibly slow._

"You should stop looking down."

 _It was a simple piece of advice, but it was her main problem._

"Then I can't do what I want to do."

"Just memorize the buttons."

 _I knew this wasn't as easy as it sounded, but I still wanted to tease her._

"Then how do you suggest I do that? _"_

"Click X button until you die. Click O button until you die. So on so forth."

 _I had finally gotten to use that against her. This had a visible effect on her. She ripped her gaze off the television and sent me a look that made me want to crawl back into my mother's womb._

"I was only j-joking. _" I attempted to save my soul._

 _Yukinoshita just approached me slowly with killing intent._

"I'll help you. Don't kill me."

 _Suddenly my death flag disappeared. She went back to her original stance._

"I suppose I could allow that. Now get on with it."

 _I really had no experience in helping people get better at games. Although there was a time in which I helped Komachi when she was younger. The way I did this was by covering her hands with mine and moving her fingers to the desired location when she spoke. However, I wasn't sure whether or not a normal Yukinoshita would allow that. Much less a post death threat Yukinoshita. Ultimately, I had no other method. I decided to test my fate. Mom, Dad, Komachi, remember me. I walked towards her and sat behind her. I then put my arms around her body and placed my hands on to hers. I felt her body stiffen while I felt glad that she was facing forward._

"H-Hikigaya-kun I thought I made it clear that I would not condone any p-perverted activities."

"Shut up."

 _We stayed there in silence and I could only that God that my hands were miraculously not sweating._

"When you want to do something say it out loud, and I will guide your fingers with mine."

"O-okay _."_

 _We began to play and at first our communication to control skills were horrible. After some trial and error we managed to win the game with a decent kill to death ratio. I was mentally drained after having to do things that I wouldn't normally do. Yukinoshita had no game sense, so her plays were atrocious and I cringes while carrying them out. I leaned back using my back extended arms as supports. I let out a sigh and noticed a weight on my chest. I looked down and saw Yukinoshita lying down on my chest. Through playing the game I had forgotten about our proximity. Strangely enough I wasn't blushing from this. She had her mouth slightly open and her eyes closed. I saw her chest heave as she breathed in. It was then when I realized that she wasn't completely flat. She opened her eyes and we began our staring contest._

"Hachiman _." She called out to me._

"W-what _?" I was shaken by the sudden use of my name._

"You didn't call me my name." _Her stare only seemed to intensify in passion._

"Yukino… what?"

 _She smiled at this._

"That's what I should be asking. Why did you say my first name in the clubroom?"

 _Honestly, I had completely forgotten about that. Truthfully, I hadn't meant to say her first name. She was stepping on my foot at the time and I wanted to tell her to get off my foot. My voice had just cut off mid way through._

"Oh about that."

 _I proceeded to explain to her what had happened._

"I see. So you didn't mean to say it." _She said this looking to the side and raising herself from my chest._

"Did it make you feel weird? If so I'm sorry."

 _She looked at me again with disappointed eyes._

"I thought you felt the same was all."

"What do you mean by that?"

 _She took a deep breath._

"I've been restless. We say we're pursuing a relationship, but what part of what we are doing shows that? At most, someone could look at us and say we're really good friends."

 _I see. So she was struggling with that too. I had similar feelings although mine were more about whether or not I could touch her. No, I didn't mean just sexually. Like hugs and stuff… yeah. Whatever, the idea was that she wasn't alone. I just thought that I would rather not feel uncomfortable, so because of that, I dared not try anything._

"Well. It's not like I don't want to do anything with you either."

 _She looked at me curiously. I took this as a command to continue._

"But think of it from my perspective. If I did something to make you mad or uncomfortable, then I would end up feeling like a jerk or pervert. I would probably never be able to approach you the same way. If you did something to me that I didn't like, I would easily be able to forgive you. So what I'm saying is… if you want to do something, just do it."

"But that's not fair."

 _This time it was me who was curious as to what that meant. She looked down._

"What if some of the things I want to do are too embarrassing? I don't want to seem like a perverted or clingy woman."

 _Wait perverted, what exactly did she want to do with me? I gulped._

"Then how's this? _"_

"How's what?"

"I give you a free command to make me do whatever you want. Even if I don't want to, which I doubt I would, I will make sure that I do it."

 _She looked at me uneasily and then spoke._

"Don't move." _Her voice was weak._

"Okay _."_

 _She wrapped her arms around my neck slowly as she turned to face me. Then she hugged me while straddling me._

"Can I move now?"

 _She didn't give me a verbal response, but instead shook her head. Taking that as consent I wrapped my arms around her waist and hugged her. I felt her hair tickling my ear which made me want squirm but I held it in. I had a bigger problem. I certain appendage of mine was beginning to get excited. To avoid her catching on to this I lightly moved her hips toward my knees. After I did this giggled. The sexiness of this giggle was amplified by the proximity of her mouth to my ear._

"Hiki-pervert-kun I was led to believe that this was my request. So why is it that you seem more excited than me."

 _Was this the awakening of the teasing gene Yukinoshita's sister used so prominently._

"Sorry _."_

"Don't be, but know that we won't be doing anything utilizing that. _"_

 _There was still a hint of teasing in her tone, but it was much more stern._

"Yes ma'am."

 _My heart was pounding loudly and I could feel hers on my chest. At first they were completely erratic, but soon began to beat in synch._

"This is nice isn't it." _She whispered._

"Yeah _." I replied._

"Hey Hikigaya-kun, would it be okay if I could have one more command."

"I don't see why not."

 _I was beginning to feel anxious. If we had already hugged then the only next step was to kiss right? I began to mentally prepare myself for kissing Yukinoshita. I wonder how her lips would feel, what they would taste like, how long we would kiss._

"Close your eyes."

 _I nervously closed my eyes and prepared myself._

"Just kidding _."_

 _My dreams were shattered. Talk about a bait and switch._

"Let's just stay like this a while longer."

"Mhm." _I hummed._

 _This was what true peace felt like. The only things that were currently in my plain of existence were me and Yukinoshita. Along with our clothes… sadly. As I attempted to quell my young boy desires, the door swung open. I fell back due to my surprise and Yukinoshita let out a moan due to her bodies strong contact with mine. I simply hoped that it wasn't my parents who opened the door._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Caught**

 **Yukino's Perspective:**

 _I was on top on Hikigaya-kun. It was fun to tease him, but this position made it seem like I was some sort of deviant. To make matters worse, some one had just opened the door. I needed to get off him. I didn't know the rules Hikigaya-kun's parents had on relationships, but his seemed a bit over the top for even a laid back family to shrug off. I turned to look at the intruder and was met by a female of short stature. I mentally gave a sigh of relief that it wasn't his parents. In fact, this was most likely the best person to have caught this scene. Yuigahama-san would most likely have her heart broken once more. My sister would cause for multiple problems to arise. Sensei would give us some speech about her having this planned from the start, and then complain about finding love for others and not herself. Not that I loved Hikigaya-kun… right? Anyways, Komachi-san being the one to enter through the door was most likely the best outcome. At worst, Hikigaya-kun would have to deal with teasing from Komachi. I thought this wholeheartedly, but for some reason she looked extremely annoyed. She closed the door behind her loudly and I heard Hikigaya-kun gulp from under me. I remembered the position we were in, and then I removed myself from above him._

"K-komachi you're back." _Hikigaya-kun said nervously._

 _I understood that the act we were caught during was quite embarrassing, but I shouldn't be something to react this strongly to._

"Onii-chan. Care to explain what was happening?" _Komachi-san spoke with venom in her tongue._

 _Did Komachi-san disapprove of our relationship? Even I could tell how obvious her seemed to bring us together were. So why was she acting negatively?_

"I'm sorry Komachi. I should have told you earlier." _Hikigaya-kun was now bowing with his head on the floor._

"Here I was thinking that something bad had happened in the club. You ignored me for a week, and made me feel bad. I was thinking of what trouble you had caused. So why is it that Yukino-san is getting along so well with you?"

 _Hikigaya-kun visibly flushed and I'm sure that I did too. He rose and scratched his head while looking to the side._

"Well I just said that I didn't want to tell you. I never said that something bad happened. Besides, you were the one who ignored me."

 _Komachi-san let out a huge sigh. Then a smile appeared over her face._

"If you and Yukino-san are already that active, why didn't you tell me?" _She said merrily._

 _The intensity of the mood disappeared with her question. It seemed that she had finally calmed down._

"Well, you never let me speak, and I thought that since you were mad, the teasing would be multiplied."

 _Hikigaya-kun had yet to relax._

"I guess I'll deal with you later."

 _Komachi-san turned to face me and then bolted straight towards me._

"But wow Yukino-san. I didn't expect you to be so aggressive."

 _Preposterous. I w-wasn't being aggressive; this was all merely a coincidence. Sure, I forced him to let me enter his home, but that was for the sake of Kamakura. I didn't think that things would end up like this._

"So have you guys done it?" _Komachi-san further questioned._

 _Hikigaya-kun coughed loudly and I gasped. O-of course we hadn't done it. To think that I would let this man take my chastity so early. Wait, so early? What was I thinking? I wouldn't do something like that with him right? Just because you were seeking to pursue a relationship, that didn't mean that you had to do it. I was happy with how things were with Hikigaya-kun at the current moment, but that didn't mean we would continue like this forever. Although, I can't think of being happy with anyone else. Even I understood that my male replica wasn't going to be easy to find, and that if I did find him, I probably would not enjoy being with him. I looked towards Hikigaya-kun who was shaking his arms to negate the statement._

"Just kidding. There's no way that my coward of a brother would be that quick."

"Oi you are you calling a coward?" _Hikigaya-kun spat._

 _His face was still red, but it seemed that he was getting over her previous comment._

"Please, I bet that you didn't even confess properly. Wait, don't tell me that you made Yukino-san confess."

 _Well, she wasn't wrong. What Hikigaya-kun said could hardly be considered a confession. He beat around the bush throughout his entire sentence. He had even given up on us right after. Still, I didn't expect much from him to begin with._

"Yukino-san. Let's go to my room and tell me all about my brothers 'confession,' while he makes us some food."

"Oi that's-" _Hikigaya-kun attempted to protest._

"So what do you say Yukino-san?" _Komachi-san cut him off._

 _Hikigaya-kun sent me the most blatant ask for salvation. So I looked away. I was feeling particularly hungry and I didn't want to find out what would happen if I said no. Komachi-san was still definitely mad about something._

"I don't mind."

 _I didn't hear anything nor did I feel anything, but I could surmise that, at the moment, Hikigaya-kun had a strong sense of deprecation towards me. Armed with this knowledge I have him a wave._

"Please don't make it curry."

 _I hoped that Hikigaya-kun would take that advice to heart, but the rational side of me prepared my stomach for curry. I was escorted by Komachi-san into her bedroom. Upon entering, an aroma of snacks, different types of perfumes, and processed cloths was percieved_ _by my nostrils. Her room was light green and her bed was pink. It had some designs on it that were to be considered cute. Not comparable to Pan-san of course. She had a dresser that was covered with perfume, makeup, and nail products. A corner of her room was filled with manga that had questionable covers. The females looked much too defenseless, while the males were quite handsome and imposing. We walked in fully and watched her as she shut the door and locked it. She motioned me to sit on her bed and after I conceded she took a seat on it as well._

"Now that we are alone. Tell me all about you and my onii-chan."

"Well what knowledge do you wish to attain."

"Well duh. I want to know of his passionate cry of love."

 _She must have believed that Hikigaya-kun and I were dating._

"Komachi-san, I must inform you that we are not dating."

 _Her smile broke._

"What do you mean Yukino-san? Why else would you have been looking at him with hunger when I came in?"

 _Again with her accusations. I was not lustful in the least. Although, leaning on him did make me comfortably warm._

"We never said we loved each other."

"Then what are you doing? I like you, but I won't let you play with onii-chan like that."

 _Suddenly, a rage had overcome her. It seemed that the sis-con tendencies were returned as bro-con ones. I understood her anger. I was appalled by the very thought of sleazy men and women. Because of this, I would not let her comment stand._

"I understand your concerns, but let me assure you that Hikigaya-kun is not some toy to me. I still have my doubts on how I feel for him, but I never considered trying to grow closer to him a game."

"Then how do you feel about him right now? Can you promise me that you won't just kick him to the curb like trash?"

"Komachi-san. Hikigaya-kun is an irreplaceable person to me. He has helped me experience a vast ocean of feelings. To be honest, I don't think our relationship will have happy ending. Yet, I still want to find out if it can. I can't promise you that I won't kick him to the side. Not because I think I will, but because that is a promise I should make to him."

 _Komachi-san looked down. It was true what I had said. If I didn't want to have a blissful relationship with Hikigaya-kun, I would have not tried to convince him to give us a shot. However, my family was a problem. One that had to be faced._

"You better not be lying."

 _She was sniffling. I put my hand on her shoulder and she hugged me. She was probably happy to hear that Hikigaya-kun wasn't alone in this world._

"I hope you guys have a happy ending."

 _I pat her head until she calmed down._

"Don't worry about onii-chan. I'll give him all sorts of tips to treat you good, and if he ever messes up or does anything horrible, I'll be the first to teach him a lesson."

"Thank you." _I said while laughing._

 _Hikigaya-kun was definitely going to have a stern talk from Komachi-san after the day was over. We heard some knocking on the door._

"Food's done."

 _It seemed that the, most likely, curry was done. Komachi-san and I made our way to the door and opened it._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Planning**

 **Hachiman's Perspective:**

 _I must say. Komachi truly is perfect idol material. When she is happy, you are able to borrow from that happiness and take part in it. Everything that she does has an underlying cuteness to it as well. An example of this is what happened last night. After Yukinoshita left my ever so humble residence, Komachi put a hand on my shoulder and told me to sit down with the power and presence of a Yakuza boss. That would have sent my flight survival mechanic on the loose and caused me to run out of the house. However, many emotions came over me, but the only worthwhile one was that Komachi was really cute when she was scary. I still feared for my life, but I felt comfort in knowing that I would perish to her. That conversation was the reason for my current state of affairs. By the way, my current state of affairs was: Suuuper Sleeepy. When I was in super sleepy mode, I had multiple new attributes. These attributes were: worse looking eyes, constant yawning, actual napping rather than fake napping, and many more. We're I some sort of lactic based product, I would be named 'I can't believe it's not Hikki.' I really wasn't a night owl. You'd think a loner type like me would be proficient in staying up late, but you couldn't be any more wrong. Unlike you normies, I never had my time wasted and usually had enough time to do what I wanted to do. Because of this, I would sleep at a reasonable time and hadn't developed a resistance to sleep deprivation. Sure every now and then I would stay up late, but that would only result in situations like this._

"Hikigaya-kun. What is your say in this request?"

 _A surprise attack! What do I answer? I hadn't been paying attention whatsoever. Well let's think about this rationally. Assuming that it was a yes or no question, the odds of me giving a favorable answer are fifty-fifty. That is, if I was a normal person. If I said yes, I might get roped into something annoying whether the interrogator was happy or not. If I said no, I could avoid a dilemma either way. Worst case scenario the person asking would be displeased. I was just about to answer with no… until my Max Coffee emergency reserves kicked in. What if the person that asked the question was trying to avoid work? My plans were foiled. I was back to square one. I could try to just agree with what the person thought, but that person was most definitely Yukinoshita. No one else called me Hikigaya-kun, and knowing her, she wouldn't turn down a request no matter how annoying it was. Who was the one that was seeking assistance from our club you ask? Well after I put my eyes to use, I found out that the very being was Isshiki. This just got even more troublesome. Actually, what was I worrying about?_

"Can you repeat the question?" _I valiantly asked._

 _This acquired me a skeptical look from Yukinoshita. She sighed and opened her mouth._

"Isshiki-san was just inquiring about advice for a certain trouble she has been facing."

"Seeenpai, at least try to stay awake while i'm talking."

 _Isshiki pointed her finger at me while she scolded me._

"If there is anyone to blame, it is Komachi. She wouldn't let me sleep last night."

 _I could have probably said that better. Isshiki was giving me a dumbfounded look while Yukinoshita gave an understanding nod. So she knew that Komachi was going to give me such a lecture. While I tried to think of what Yukinoshita could have said to inspire Komachi, Isshiki coughed._

"Wow. S-senpai you're really funny. There is no way that you have a girl like that. Right Yukino-san?"

 _Yeah, she was definitely misunderstanding. I'll just tell her that Komachi is my sister._

"No, Komachi is definitely capable of doing that." _Yukinoshita spoke._

 _Now things were even worse._

"I see. So who is this Komachi.?"

 _I sensed a bit of venom in her tone, but I ignored it._

"She is my little sister."

 _A rainbow of reactions occured on her face for a good ten seconds. Some of which include: disgust, disgust, and disgust. Long story short, she probably thought I was a sis-con pedophile._

"Senpai. That's gross."

 _Why did I suddenly feel like I was actually a piece of trash?_

"You m-misunderstand. Komachi didn't let me sleep because she was lecturing me about something Yukinoshita probably said."

 _It took a while before she got over her initial disgust, but when she did, she turned to Yukinoshita._

"Is this true Yukino-san?"

 _Yukinoshita seemed to remember something and lighty blushed. What did she say?_

"Yes that is true."

 _Isshiki looked at her and me suspiciously. Then she opened her mouth like she was going to ask another question. However, this was stopped by Yukinoshita._

"Now on the topic of your request Isshiki-san."

 _A successful diversion by Yukinoshita._

"Oh right. Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I want to make some chocolates for Hayama-senpai. So what kind of chocolate do you think that Hayama-senpai would like?"

 _Why would I be getting asked this question?_

"If we are going based of Hayama knowledge, then Yukinoshita should be the person you should be asking."

"I already did, and she said that she didn't know."

 _I looked over at Yukinoshita, and she lifted an eyebrow._

"I said no such thing. I simply said that asking that question was pointless."

"Doesn't that just mean you don't know?" _Isshiki tilted her head._

"While it is true that I don't know, that wasn't what I meant when I said that. It is pointless to talk about Valentine's chocolates for Hayama-kun because he doesn't accept them."

 _Isshiki's eyes opened up wide._

"But why?"

 _Yukinoshita gave a lengthy explanation on how the classroom dynamic would be affected by chocolates in the past. After many back and forth suggestions, we settled upon having a public student council chocolate making event. Isshiki left and after a while, we decided that we should take our leave too. I was walking Yukinoshita to her apartment like the gentleman that I was, not because Komachi threatened me or anything. She kept reaching for her phone but never grabbed it. This was very strange. Yukinoshita didn't seem like the type that was addicted to her cellphone. We were almost at her home and she was still doing it._

"Is there something wrong?"

 _This caught her off guard. She seemed to contemplate something before turning to look at me._

"Do you think that it would be fine to invite Yuigahama-san to the event?"

 _So this was her dilemma. I didn't see anything wrong with an invitation. Sure it might seem insensitive, but Yuigahama could always no. As long as she wasn't being forced everything should be fine._

"As long as she is okay with coming, an invitation is fine."

 _She sighed._

"I had similar thoughts, but Yuigahama-san is too kind. What if she forces herself to come because she doesn't want to decline an invitation?"

 _She wasn't wrong, but there was a simple way of doing this._

"Just tell Hiratsuka-sensei to ask her. She could say that it is a volunteer event for the club and that we are already going expecting to be by ourselves. That way she could either come if she wants or not come and receive no backlash."

 _Once again she sighed._

"But that would mean that we'd have to explain everything to sensei. I really don't want to have that conversation yet." _Yukinoshita complained._

 _Then it all came down to one question._

"Do you want Yuigahama to be there?"

"Of course."

 _Yukinoshita responded without hesitation. I expected this._

"Then invite her. The rest is up to her."

"But… I suppose you are right."

 _I was right; did that mean I was God now? Yukinoshita took her phone out and texted Yuigahama. Immediately, she put it back into her purse. By now we were at her apartment._

"Goodbye." _I waved at her._

 _She walked up to me and extended her hand._

"What's this?"

 _On her palm there was nothing._

"Handshake." _She commanded._

 _Was she trying to be more couple-like? I mean I guess. I took her hand and shook it lightly. Then we stood there like idiots for seven seconds._

"Goodbye… again."

 _This was awkward._

"Goodbye."

 _She waved at me and walked into her apartment building. It was me who needed to talk to Komachi now._


End file.
